Acme Weather 1.0
Fifteen years ago, we started work on the Dark Sky weather app.
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We enjoyed our time at Apple. So why did we leave to start another weather company?
It’s simple: when looking at the landscape of the countless weather apps out there, many of them lovely, we found ourselves feeling unsatisfied.
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Our homegrown forecasts are produced using many different data sources, including numerical weather prediction models, satellite data, ground station observations, and radar data. Most of the time, our forecast will be a reliable source of information (it’s better than the one we had at Dark Sky). But, crucially, we supplement the main forecast with a spread of alternate predictions. These are additional forecast lines that capture a range of alternate possible outcomes[…]
The main two things I want, which previous apps didn’t provide, are an easy way to see different predictions for the same location (since there can be huge variance, e.g. in the number of inches of snow) and different locations at the same future time (to help decide where I should go). This tries to address the first half, though it doesn’t seem to give a range of alternate predictions for the amount of snow, only the likelihood of precipitation and its subjective intensity.
If you see widely separated lines, there’s a greater chance that conditions will vary from what Acme’s model expects, whereas a tight cluster of lines gives you greater confidence as you walk out the door.
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Beneath the hourly conditions graph, Acme displays a horizontally scrolling list of weather stats. Swiping between them repopulates the graph with whichever forecast metric you want. It’s a lot of data, and it’s all accessible without scrolling vertically or switching views, which I love. Also, when precipitation is on its way, the app displays an additional graph with minute-by-minute details for the upcoming hour.
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Acme Weather includes an unusual emphasis on notifications, too. Instead of relegating the feature to the app’s settings, Acme dedicates an entire tab to it. In a world of notification overload, that’s a bold move, but it works. That’s because Acme puts its users in the driver’s seat, offering fine-grained control over the notifications you receive.
What strikes me most about the app is how well it takes large amounts of information and distills that into an interface that is actually readable.
I’ve thought before that I’d like error ranges in weather graphs. Alternative predictions aren’t quite how I’d imagined it. Showing some detail/personality/confidence level for the alternative prediction lines might help. This might also be solved by time with the app to learn how surprising the weather turns out to be when predictions were divergent.
Cumulative precipitation could use another dimension to the data to show either soon-ness in the next 24 hours or how short of a time period is predicted to deliver most of the rainfall. That’s a hard data visualization problem.
Previously:
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Why in the world would anyone want to buy a weather app from the same people who sold their previous weather app to Apple knowing exactly what Apple would do with it (discontinue it and maybe integrate a few pieces into the built-in weather app)?
And their new app is a subscription too, of course. It feels like a grift. Are they going to sell this one too? 🙄🙄🙄
Every weather app is a subscription by virtue of the data being a continuous expense for the developer. Not sure it's a grift so much as them taking another shot at what they're good at after Apple bought and basically ruined their previous app. What's the crime?
I'm ready to move on from Carrot after a year of that, and may try this. I don't get attached to any app anymore (except 2Do) so whatever happens, happens.
Looks good for a first version. I got hooked on all the data in Carrot so I may not be ready to switch yet, but I can see it being a very good middle ground for a lot of people who want some data but not the firehose.
I've tried so many weather apps over the years, ever since the App Store was available. I've tried the free, the freemium, the paid. My somewhat cynical conclusion is that weather apps with a subscription model aren't better than free or freemium apps at giving me a somewhat reliable forecast.
With weather forecasting, you can't demand absolute accuracy, you have to settle for a 'likely outlook', and too many apps have failed me even at that. And not just for their failure at predicting the weather for the day after or even for the evening of the same day — I've had apps that were telling me that the current weather was "Rain, 4mm precipitation" when there where just a few white clouds in the clear sky.
The weather apps I'm currently using are:
- Snowflake (the same weather module you have in iStat Menus for Mac) (Freemium) — which is a good app and has enough features in the free tier.
- YR (Free) — from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Older versions of the app can be downloaded for older iOS versions. It still works under iOS 10.
- Hello Weather (Freemium) — What the free tier offers is basic but fine. Older versions of the app can be downloaded for older iOS versions. It still works under iOS 12.
- OpenWeather from OpenWeatherMap (Free) — A recent discovery. Sober interface, nothing fancy, but does its job.
None of these has ads. Hello Weather has dismissable popup reminders nudging you towards subscribing to get all the features.
If you're looking for a weather app with a whimsy interface, "(Not Boring) Weather" is fun and totally usable at its base free tier.
@Riccardo I really like Snowflake as an app, but for some reason its forecasts stopped being good in my area.
I tried to test it but it seemed to require a subscription to try any of the features that differentiate it. I don’t care if it comes with a week trial. It also didn’t seem finished, like it’s version 0.9. A weather app should not require a subscription just to see how it works. I deleted it. Carrot and the Apple Weather app suit me fine anyhow.
“This app is currently not available in your country or region.”
Same as is ever was.
Say what you will about what Apple did with Dark Sky, but at least there was an attempt to take its feature set global.
Dark Sky guys. Build a nice app. Get acquired by Apple. Leave within a few years to make another weather app (Acme Weather).
Workflow guys. Build an app. Get acquired by Apple (renamed to Shortcuts). Leave within a few years to make another shortcuts app (Sky, now acquired by OpenAI).
What do you think happens to the Pixelmator guys in a few years?
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Apple's culture must be so overwhelmingly dogshit that it suffocates anyone with talent and passion. These devs loved their work so much they rebuilt it on their own with new ideas. While at Apple, their apps were basically stagnate after the initial rebrand. How retarded is Apple management to pay for talent, do nothing with it, then drive it out of the company?
I'm sure Apple made up for this loss when they hired the master of LeetCode Question #126. I'm sure he has the makings of a top-notch app dev. I'm sure his deep understanding of academic toy problems will really shine in the next iOS update.
